Could Egypt’s financing fears be set to ease? Reports over the past week have suggested that Egypt could be poised to leverage its position in the region to receive financial support in exchange for helping to de-escalate the Israel-Hamas conflict . …
19th October 2023
After another topsy-turvy week in financial markets, the dollar appears to be back on the front foot. In part, that probably reflects Thursday’s US CPI print, which came in a touch higher than expected. That led to a rebound in US Treasury yields, which …
13th October 2023
Ghana rate cuts more likely as inflation falls Annual inflation in Ghana eased again to 38.1% y/y over September which gives the central bank some leeway to consider cutting rates at its next meeting. The drop in inflation last month was down from 40.1% …
The fall in house prices in September shows just how quickly conditions in the housing market have shifted and the plunge in the sales-to-new listing ratio points to more weakness to come. That is another reason to expect the Bank of Canada to cut …
Ecuador’s presidential run off Ecuadorians head to the polls on Sunday in a run-off vote for the country’s next president that pits left-wing candidate Luisa González against centre-right businessman Daniel Noboa. Whoever wins will serve the remainder of …
We set out our initial thoughts on the potential implications of the conflict between Israel and Hamas earlier this week here . It’s hard to know how things will develop from here, but we think that there are four key points worth making at this stage. …
There appears to be growing support at the Fed for the idea that the recent sell-off in long-term Treasuries reduces the need for further policy rate hikes, but the more persuasive reason for the Fed to pause is that inflation is continuing to ease …
Almost as fast as gilt yields rose (see here ) they have subsided. After surging from 4.68% on 2 nd October to a 21-year high of 5.11% last Friday, the 30-year gilt yield dropped to 4.72% on Thursday, although it has since ticked up to 4.85% on the back …
Online briefing about the health of China's economy We'll be online on Wednesday shortly after the release of the September activity and spending data and Q3 GDP. Register here to join us. US export controls about to bite harder The US government is on …
Investment growth may have slowed in Q3 Data released this week showed that growth in industrial output accelerated from 6.0% y/y in July to 10.3% y/y in August, the fastest in more than a year. And in m/m seasonally adjusted terms, output rose from 0.2% …
The Hamas-Israeli conflict has so far had relatively little impact on oil prices but has pushed up European natural gas prices by nearly 30% this week, to €53 per MWh at the time of writing. There has been a small direct impact on the supply of gas as …
Economy probably won’t overheat The IMF this week revised up its forecast for Japan’s 2023 GDP growth from 1.4% to 2.0%, broadly matching our own. With activity rising much faster than its sustainable rate, any remaining spare capacity in the economy has …
What to expect from a change of guard The headlines this week have largely been dominated by the last leg of campaigning ahead of New Zealand’s general election on October 14 th . The latest opinion polling suggests that five parties are likely to cross …
The outbreak of conflict between Hamas and Israel this week has not yet spilled over into the wider region. But the situation is in flux and, if Iran is pulled into direct conflict, the ramifications for the region would be a lot larger. Since we …
12th October 2023
Remarkably, the dollar may be about the lose its record streak of weekly gains despite a strong US payrolls report . (See Chart 1.) While the initial reaction to today’s data was another jump in the greenback, it has since given back that gain, and those …
6th October 2023
The further rise in home listings in September and likelihood that mortgage rates will increase amid the global bond market sell-off suggests that house prices will soon fall again. While employment rose strongly in September, the fall in hours worked …
Nigeria: labour strike averted at a cost Nigeria avoided a potentially disruptive workers’ strike this week after the government made a late offer of short term relief measures, but these risk adding to fiscal and inflationary pressures. Unions had called …
Feeling the spillovers… Latin America has been far from immune from spillovers from the sell-off in global bond markets. (For more on the impact on the global economy, see here .) Like in DMs, local currency bond yields in the region have risen sharply, …
Rising long rates a fiscal rather than monetary problem Surge in long yields not all due to higher for longer The conventional wisdom is that the recent surge in Treasury yields is a reaction to the Fed’s “higher for longer” message. But that surge has …
Turkey: rebalancing now underway Data releases this week finally provided some signs that Turkey’s inflation and current account problems are starting to ease. Admittedly, inflation continued to rise in September, to 61.5% y/y, from 58.9% in August. But …
The recent rise in gilt yields has been almost as fast as the political furore over the cancellation of the northern leg of HS2 this week. The 30-year gilt yield rose from 4.68% at the start of last week to a 20-year high of 5.06% at the time of writing …
What to make of the bond market sell-off? We have covered the implications of the bond sell-off for the global economy here . Three additional points are worth making in relation to the euro-zone. First, the increase in yields and associated tightening of …
Limited macro fallout from weakening rupee The sell-off in global bond markets has caused currencies, including the rupee, to come under pressure this week. The rupee is now at 83.2/$, hovering close to record lows. It could even have posted new lows but, …
PBOC not letting its guard down The yield on 10-year US Treasuries surged to a 16-year high this week. We covered the potential implications for the global economy here . But one of the more immediate consequences has been downward pressure on many EM …
Singapore’s struggling economy Singapore’s economy has struggled in recent quarters, and only narrowly avoided falling into recession in Q2. Preliminary GDP figures to be published on Friday are likely to show the weakness continued in the third …
One more hike for good measure On Tuesday new RBA Governor Michele Bullock began her tenure not with a bang but with a whimper, by leaving the cash rate unchanged at 4.10%. What’s more, the statement accompanying the policy decision gave few indications …
Bond market sell-off pushes yen to one-year low The big event this week was the sharp fall in the yen after it breached 150 against the dollar while Tokyo was asleep in the early hours of Wednesday. Government officials have refused to comment on …
Al-Sisi confirms his running; UAE opens swap line Egypt’s incumbent President al-Sisi has confirmed he will run for re-election in December in a race that he is almost certain to win. The policy paralysis induced by this election has prompted central …
5th October 2023
The week is set to end with the US dollar a bit higher against most currencies and the DXY Index just below fresh year-to-date highs. The dollar’s latest gains coincide with yet another week of rising long-term bond yields in the US and elsewhere. But …
29th September 2023
The recent acceleration in immigration may not be enough to keep the economy afloat, with the latest data and surveys pointing to an increased chance that GDP will contract over the rest of the year. 40,097,761 and counting Stats Can confirmed this week …
Brazil’s communication problems The minutes to last week’s central bank meeting in Brazil again presented a somewhat different picture to the statement accompanying the decision itself. Whereas the statement was largely unchanged from the previous one, …
SA's avian flu outbreak unlikely to sway the SARB South Africa is in the midst of a severe avian flu outbreak which, coming alongside the effects of loadshedding, has prompted fears of shortages and higher prices for eggs and chicken meat. But this is …
GDP-GDI gap left largely unexplained In the end, the comprehensive revisions to the GDP data changed almost nothing of substance – the real economy was still 6.1% bigger in the second quarter of this year than it was pre-pandemic in the fourth quarter of …
The increase in euro-zone bond yields earlier this week was a function of shifting global sentiment rather than a response to news from Europe itself. But it is a reminder that there are still underlying concerns about euro-zone public finances. In a week …
MNB and CNB continuing to toe a hawkish line The Hungarian and Czech central banks maintained fairly hawkish communications at their meetings this week, but we still think that interest rates will fall sharply in both countries by mid-2024. The Hungarian …
Infrastructure remains a major weakness Indonesia’s first high-speed train line is due to become operational this Sunday, when a WHOOSH bullet train departs the Indonesian capital of Jakarta for the provincial capital of Bandung, 88 miles away. Journey …
After the huge upward revisions to the level of GDP in Q4 2021 announced at the start of September, which resulted in the UK leapfrogging Germany to sixth place in the league table of best performing G7 economies since the pandemic (see here ), Friday’s …
Industrial policy isn't an offset for property downturn Can emerging new industries replace property as a driver of China’s economy? There has been a flurry of discussion in the past couple of weeks in China about whether “new-type industrialisation” …
The risks and opportunities from climate UK Prime Minister Sunak’s recent speech on climate policies was obviously a highly visible change in stance. But as we highlighted in last month’s Climate Economics Monthly , the rowing back on climate policies in …
Coal stocks already at their lowest levels this year Workers affiliated with five trade unions at the state-owned behemoth Coal India are due to go on strike for three days next week (3 rd –5 th October) in dispute over wages. There is still time for the …
Sustainable 2% inflation coming into sight The minutes of the Bank of Japan’s July meeting revealed that Board members had a lively debate on the outlook for inflation and monetary policy. One member noted that “close attention was warranted on the risk …
Economic data flash mixed signals The big news out of Australia this week was the strong rise in consumer prices in August. Moreover, with underlying price pressures showing few signs of relenting, we’ve revised up our forecast for the RBA’s terminal cash …
Will December’s election pave way for EGP move? Egypt’s National Election Authority confirmed this week that the presidential election will take place in December. As we highlighted , this adds to reasons to think the shift to orthodoxy will remain on …
28th September 2023
Given clearer signs of economic weakness in recent weeks, we think the surprise increase in underlying inflation pressures in August means the Bank of Canada is more likely to keep interest rates at their current level for longer than to raise rates …
25th September 2023
Amid the flurry of central bank announcements, the Fed doubling down on “higher for longer” proved to be enough for the greenback to eke out small gains against most other currencies, taking the DXY index to a tenth consecutive weekly rise. While comments …
22nd September 2023
Nigeria's fuel subsidy unexpectedly returns The recent pick-up in oil prices will provide welcome hard currency income for Nigeria. But high oil prices and a weak naira also signal the return of the fuel subsidy. As a major oil exporter, Nigeria benefits …
Brazil’s services inflation: how soft? The big economic event this week was the central bank meeting in Brazil on Wednesday at which the Selic rate was lowered by another 50bp (to 12.75%). As we noted in our response , the key messages in the statement …
Most commodity prices fell this week as the Federal Reserve left the door open to another interest rate hike before the end of the year , and indicated that rates will remain higher for longer. However, we are sticking with our view that US inflation will …
This week’s news that interest rates are probably at their peak (see here ) and the news that public borrowing in the current fiscal year is £11bn below the Office for Budget Responsibility’s forecast has raised the pressure on the Chancellor to deliver …
We do not expect the recent rise in oil prices to cause the ECB to hike rates, as the impact on headline inflation will be limited. Since the end of June, the Brent crude oil price has risen by almost 30% to around $94pb, predominantly due to cuts in …
